The End Of Innocence
by your new girlfriend
Summary: Losing your way on a journey is a unfortunate but losing your reason for the journey is a fate more cruel. Some of us learn this quickly but for others the revelation comes a bit late.
1. Prelude

The End Of Innocence

_by: x Beautiful Tragedy x_

**_Prelude_ : In Another Life**

The unrelenting sun had gone down hours ago and yet the heat remained residual. Stars had only just started to peek from behind their vast blankets of deep blue that was the summer sky and twinkle in all their dazzling light. The house stood just yards away untouched but by time and boarded just as it had been left only two short years ago.

Her grip on the steering wheel was so tight her knuckles were a white unnatural to her. Standing on trembling knees, she wanted for one fleeting second to get back in her car and drive to anywhere but there. But she knew she couldn't. She would probably never be able to again. So many unanswered questions clouded her head and she saw nothing but the past as she turned the key in the lock and slowly opened the door.

_The night air was cool on her skin as she went outside to help their friend and his father with the groceries. It was the least she could do after they had so graciously allowed her to stay with them. Any other family might have made her find somewhere else to live, maybe kicked him out too. But not Anthony, he was a different sort of father. Trusting and more kind than any individual she had known yet authoritative at the same time. She could see now why he and Jesse got along so well. Not only was he the sort of parent a person could look up to but a best friend as well. _

_It was his trusting side that had lead him to leave the two alone for the period of time that it took him to get the groceries. Or maybe he had sense that the two had needed to be alone, to get to know each other again even after the short period of time they had been apart. Either way they had wasted none of the precious time and taken advantage of being alone. It was time that didn't occur often due to the amount of time he spent at work and her unwillingness to cross the line that had clearly been set by Anthony. She was unsure what he would have done had he known but she wished not to find out. Promises weren't meant to be broken in her book, and remained in tact as long as the other party didn't find out. Or so she wished to believe. Yet the nervous feelings that had inched their way throughout her body like a dozen dancing butterflies seemed to settle in the pit of her stomach. Dissolving only when he rustled her hair as he so often did and greeted her with the simple but precious term of endearment he always had. Something her father never would have done. _

_It was then she realized that he detected nothing. Knew not what had been happening when he was away. Only thinking the cause of her wrinkled clothes, the tinge of pink her skin had adapted was due to the summer sun or wear and tear of the day. And she felt her breath catch in her throat when he, the one she thought she loved, walked in through the back door just barely finished pulling his shirt down. Leaving her to fight a battle with a blush that threatened to show when he gave her that wink he possessed that contained so much yet let on to so little while Anthony had his back turned._

Feelings she had been careful not to let back up in uncountable years resurfaced and she could feel the butterflies that had been in her stomach. She felt as if she were barely able to catch a breath, standing on trembling knees, hands shaking so hard she wasn't sure what she was able to do. But she forced them all down. Convinced that the girl she was then wasn't who she was now. That she was stronger than the young girl who believed in true love that she had been.

She ran her finger along the top of a carefully placed end table. Not one bit out of space or uneven, just as tidy as it had looked back then. How comfortable and secure it felt, the way she liked it, unchanged. The path her finger had taken was marked by a thin trail of unsettled dust. A single line near the edge bordered by an infinite film of light gray on either side.

Moving quietly she picked up an old photograph and blew the dust that had been covering it away, wiping at a few stray traces that had been left. She remembered the summer it had been taken. Right after they'd settled on the house in which she stood, after he'd bought it for them. Everyone had been there, smiling, carefree, full of life as if nothing could ever get them down. Just like they always were whenever one had a life changing event happen. Frozen in time with a look that said they would always be there for one another, friends forever. It stirred up old memories and for the first time she allowed a silent tear to fall.

She almost felt angry at herself for not staying with him. The fight hadn't been worth losing the love of her life over. Sure it was a stupid thing and a source of great frustration but she had stood behind him when he'd started. Surely he should have known she would be there for him when it was done. But so much had changed now and she allowed her mind to only briefly touch the thoughts of what could have been. Thoughts familiar to her by now. She just hoped he wasn't alone wherever it was he had gone. The team had scattered, she knew that much, and with the exception of an occasional Christmas call she had heard from none.

The lights wouldn't come on when her finger flipped the switch but she wasn't surprised. Of course the lights wouldn't work the electricity would have been long shut off by now. Owing to the pile up of bills she was sure there were. Sitting in a chair the brunette surveyed the room taking back her initial though. Things had changed. There wasn't a thing that time hadn't touched from the dusty tables to the old, lifeless feeling of the house. A knock on the door made her jump and she wondered who would come knocking on an obviously empty house at quarter past nine as she wiped traces of tears from her face.

A soft rap on the door made her jump and she laughed at just how silly she had been once she heard the familiar sound again. Taking but a moment to compose herself she walked to the door and twisted the knob, heart skipping a beat when she saw who was standing on the other side. Yet to turn around from where he nervously looked at the car in the driveway. To anyone else he would seem cool and collected but she could tell by the way he popped his knuckles with his thumb that he wasn't feeling that way. And the disbelief in his eyes as he turned around didn't surprised her as much as she thought that it would.

"Elizabeth?" He asked his tone the mirror of what his eyes had already given away.

"Leon." Liz replied by way of greeting, in a cool and even tone.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the characters or elements you recognize from the movie. In fact, the only thing I truly own is the character I created (Elizabeth) and anyone else that comes along that you don't recognize. Any likeness between this story and any other is unintentional. If you notice something feel free to notify me but don't just shout because names are similar as I've seen done very recently. That's ludacris.


	2. Differences In Character

**The End Of Innocence**

_By: x Beautiful Tragedy x_

Chapter One : Differences In Character

_**Six Years Prior:**_

Winter had come in all its freezing glory leaving the streets cold and the residents of the alphabet block even colder. For most of them living here hadn't been a choice but for the few that had chosen it they wondered why at this time of year. When the heat and lights would randomly shut off and when rent prices would sky rocket. Most of them had nothing but what their artistic abilities allowed them to have. For the painters it was paper and color, for the musicians a guitar or drum sticks, for the dancers it was the knowlege that tonight they would subject themselves to the crowds of sleezy clubs. A choice they made to survive because at the end of the day they were better off than singing in the park would let them be.

The small studio apartment was situated in a run down building on this street adjacent to the local tent city. Two steps from being condemned the apartment wasn't much of a find and not at all what it had been fifteen years prior. But despit the obvious downfalls it was home to those that lived there. And with the papers and crumbling notebooks that lay scattered around the counters it looked very much lived in.

He sat just inside the back window where if one crawled out a balcony could be found. In front of him was the only piece of blank paper he had been able to find in his most recent notebook and latest attempts at making it big. Bigger than the coffee shop on third anyway. But try as he might the songs just wouldn't come to him. Words were there but none seemed to match a cord or flow as well as it had sounded in his head. No song could come close to those he had learned to idolize early in life. Nothing was good enough.

Running a hand through his hair, in need of a cut rather badly, he sighed and set the guitar to the side of the window before he went out to the balcony for a breath of fresh air. It always seemed to clear his head after a long day of cluttering it with ways to make the rent. If he didn't pay soon he figured that the land lord would come evict him. Not that he lived there anyway. Nobody wanted to be in a neighborhood like theirs they were all 'too good' for it. Just the thought brought a small smirk to his face. He hadn't meant anybody as wonderful as the people he had met living in the lettered block before he'd moved there three years ago.

Music from the window below brought his attention through the cracks in his balcony. Constructed nearly entirely from steel bars with very little left of a floor. He could only see the warm yellow glow of a light and the soft sound of a guitar not much unlike his own. Well used, he figured, from the sound of the cords much like his own but cared for anyway. And he knew that maybe whoever was playing could help him with his own writers block. Give him new perspective. After all their sounds were very different. He found her to be edgy yet not quite rock yet. Grabbing his pack of cigarettes he prepared himself for what he took to be the lamest excuse he could offer for intrusion. The need for a light.

The stairs from his apartment to the one below were not that long at all. In fact it was mere seconds and quite faster than he would have liked before he was standing right outside the door where the music had seemed to stop since his departure. Taking a moment to straighten himself out and pulling his coat around him to block the winter chill that seemed to sweep through the hall he rapped lightly on the door and stood back. He expected the occupant to be like himself. A guy, maybe a little rough around the edges, with worn clothes and quite possibly a few years older. The girl on the other side was not expected at all and while certainly a surprise to him he wasn't going to turn around now in cowardly fashion. He had learned to respect that women were just as good as he was at their own little craft.

"Yes?" The girl quesitoned crossing her arms across her chest and looking at him through eyes so icey blue they were almost grey.

"I came to see if you had a light." He told her pulling out his cigarette for emphasis and placing it between his lips. He was only vaguely aware of the skeptical look on her face thinking that his excuse had been fool proof. There was no way that she would see through his lie.

"Yeah sure wait here." She said as she dissappeared inside the depths of her own apartment. From where he stood he could clearly see that it was smaller than his own yet in the same disarray. Clothes were piled and heaped together in the cornere while most of the table space was dedicated to the scraps of paper or notebooks that layed in every angle. The guitar propped on the side of the couch or what was left of it. smoke wafting out from the neglected wood stove where he assumed a fire had burned out.

"Thanks." He told her when she returned with a book of matches and handed them to him. It was then that he took the time to actually look at her. She was shorter than he was, almost considerably, he assumed no more than a few inches over five feet. Skinny like most that lived in this area yet not in the way that seemed from drugs or any other bad habit others had. Her hair was nearly a white blond, pulled back from her face with a hair tie he thought must be worn as hair had escaped from it and framed her face where her bangs were not at. She was attractive to him in a way that not many girls he had seen were. It was natural.

"Was there something else?"

Her voice broke through his thoughts and he pulled the cigarrette from his mouth taking a moment to blow the smoke away from where their conversation was taking place. It took him a moment to realize that her hand was firmly on the sliding door and she was positioned to close it on him though not openly so. She was nicely telling him to get lost and he knew that. After all it couldn't have been a pleasant surprise to find a stranger at your door, a stranger who was staring at you in such a way as he had been.

"My name's Leon." He told her as if it were enough to keep the door open. In reality he was hoping it came out in a no harm sort of way. But then his appearance didn't really give her the murder or dangerous vibe though he did look like he might scare anyone north of fifth avenue. His hair was longer than she'd seen on most males she was aquainted with, down to his shoulders nearly, and his eyes were a green she didn't think she'd ever seen on anyone. In them she saw no danger but she was taking precautions and he saw this. "I uh heard your music and was wondering if maybe you'd play for me."

Though it wasn't in quesiton form the statement had sounded very much like one. Catching her off guard as he could clearly see. She couldn't have been accustomed to that sort of question. Or perhaps it was that she had never performed for anyone other than herself. He realized that could be a very true statement and he could be intruding upon her, making her even more uncomfortable. Almost absentmindedly he took a step back, confidence faltering, prepared to make a quick exit if necessary.

"Uhm." Was all that escaped her as she bit her lip obviously thinking about the question. Elizabeth had always thought of herself as a decent musician but then again she had only ever sang when she was home alone. With the radio blasting to drown her out from anyone that might be listening. In the end Liz was undecided. Singing she did because she liked it but she didn't know if she could handle being judged. Would it crush her if she were bad and make her give it up? Was she willing to take the chance? In the end Elizabeth decided she ought to let him. There was, after all, no day but today and perhaps he knew more about the music business than she did. After all he wouldn't have sought her out if he'd thought she were terrible would he?

"Yeah um I guess that'd be alright." She said running a hand over her hair over the top of her messy pony tail. It wasn't an attempt to smooth it but more a nervous habit and where her hair was up she couldn't exactly run her fingers though it or twirl it as she so often did. Hesitantly she moved aside and allowed him entrance to her small apartment. Closing the door and cringing as it squealed and made quite the ruckus on the sliders. Walking ahead of him Elizabeth lead him to the living room, aside from the roof she was most comfortable here.

"But look," She said turning around to face him and stopping dead in her tracks. "If it sucks I don't want to know. And I don't want your false praise either."

Leon merely nodded his head as the nameless girl motioned to a once over stuffed chair that had seen better days. But at least she had furniture, he thought reminding himself of his own 'livingroom' filled with mostly makeshift things. Taking a seat he watched her settle herself on the couch. Cross legged with the guitar carefully held in her hands, positioning her fingers on the cords. He could tell she was nervous, afraid of what he might do, how he might react. He remembered the feeling well, it was something he still felt every now and then when there was actually a crowd around his regular haunts. Leon didn't rush her simply waited until she was ready. Listening intently as she strummed the first chords, he recognized it as warming up. He did it too.

_It seems like yesterday that my world fell from the sky, it seems like yesterday I didn't know how hard I could cry, it feels like tomorrow I may not get by. But I will try, I will try, wipe the tears from my eyes. _Elizabeth chose to not look up as she sang with the guitar not wanting to see any sort of reaction for fear that it might be a negative one. She didn't know exactly why she had chosen that particular song. It had been unfinished for weeks and she hadn't dared to touch it. Every time she had tried in the past it had only failed miserably and a song that was so much a part of her and her life didn't deserve to be any less than amazing. Lyrics such as had been written deserved perfect music not the harsh cords she had provided.

_I'm beautifully broken, and I don't mind if you know it. I'm beautifully broken, and I don't care if I show it. _That was all she had finished with music. The next verse had never been matched to music that she could provide. In her head she had ideas of what she might want but of course when it came to actually playing she didn't give herself the credit. She didn't find herself talented enough to provide the music for it. And almost as the preformance had started to come naturally to her, as her nerves calmed, everything shattered. Hitting a harsh cord at the end of the chorus she abruptly set the guitar aside sheepishly. Masacreing her own song hadn't been part of the plan yet it had happened and made her a mess inside.

"Hmm." Leon said sitting arms crossed and slouched back in his chair. He hadn't expected the end to come so soon and he was sorry it had. Save for the messed music of course but that was only toward the end. An accident if he was judging correctly.

"Hmm what?" Elizabeth said defensively crossing her arms across her chest, wondering what he was thinking. True she had said she didn't want to know but she found herself more inclined now. At least wanting a hint.

"Oh nothing." He replied. "I was just thinking that I might have...is that all you've got?"

"Of course its not." She said as if the answer were perfectly obvious and he were stupid for thinking otherwise. "Who writes half a song?"

"Can I?" He questioned looking at the notebook he assumed had the lyrics written in it. If he weren't mistaken he had noticed her look down at it a couple times as if she were doubting her own ability to remember words she had written.

Hesitantly Elizabeth passed the notebook to him and watched carefully his different facial expressions as he looked at the words. The way he closed his eyes over certain parts and seemed to almost be humming tunes to himself. Though she didn't hear anything but that didn't mean he couldn't. She knew what it was to hear music in her head.

Reaching, without asking, across the table he pulled the guitar to him. It wasn't his and was unfamiliar yet he played it with skill acquired from hours of practice. To her the music matched the song yet she was unwilling to be thankful as she ought to be. Instead she could feel almost anger and a bit of jealousy that he had figured it out before her edging in despite her effort to force it down.

"Easy right? But if you rewrite this," He said motioning to the second line of the second verse. "Change it to 'every time' to fit the pattern set it would..."

But he never got to finish his sentence. Elizabeth reached out and grabbed the notebook tossing it to the side and out of his sight. The music, in truth, had only bugged her slightly but she was unwilling to rewrite her song. It was hers and personal. He shouldn't have even been allowed to look at it. She was a fool for letting him.

"Leave." Elizabeth said not looking at him but toward the door.

"Look I didn't mean to..." Leon said sorry that he had said anything about changing the lyrics. But he had thought his help would be open not shunned and cause for expulsion from her dwelling.

"Get out." She said more directly.

Seeing that there was no room for argument he stood from where he sat and with a look at her walked from the room and out of her door, sliding it shut behind him. Confused by what had just happened he walked up to his apartment and let himself inside. Only the sound of his rickety sliding door to accompany his thoughts. A dislike settled in for the girl downstairs.

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the fast and the furious nor do I own any of its characters. The lyrics in this chapter as well as the title belong to Ashlee Simpson and her record label. They come from the song Beautifully Broken, which is amazing if I do say so myself. While I own Elizabeth I do not own nor am I affiliated with the person chosen to represent her (Ms. Simpson again). The idea for their living and occupation came from the movie RENT.

**Minor Note: **This story will in the future contain members of the team and a bit of the action seen in the movie, however, it is mostly about Leon's life before the events of the movie. The prelude was set after the events of the movie had taken place. If you have a problem with this at all do not read it. I merely want to avoid being hounded about the team not appearing anytime soon. And no Jesse has not appeared yet be patient loves. This chapter is sort of rough so bare with me with the spelling errors.


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